February 22, 2006 NAB Meeting

NAB Meeting
February 22, 2006


Justin Bolte (North Central Region President and NAB Chair) called the thirteenth meeting of the 2005-2006 NAB board to order at 8:40PM (EST) in Columbus, Ohio. NAB Board members that weren’t present for the meeting were Sommer McConihay (Northeastern Region President) and David Hartley (Reference Liaison); Derrick Goebel (NAB Business Manager) arrived late. Bryon Garrett from USDA was present, as well as seven guests.

To start the meeting Bolte discussed the open meeting policy that the meeting was going to follow and run by. There would be ten minutes during the session for non-NAB members to talk and if they wanted to add anything else they’d need to talk to their representative. The meeting was to be held similar to a school board meeting.

Next, Bolte moved the discussion on to reports and updates. The first report given was the Secretary’s report. Sarah Leidheiser (Conference Coordinator) moved to accept the meetings as posted on the NAB Blog; Patrick Voorhies (Southern Region President) second. Motion passed and the secretary minutes were approved.

Voorhies next gave a Task Force update. Currently, the Task Force is reviewing all sections and compiling a report for Friday of this week to present to NAB and for Saturday to present to the entire delegation.

Kyle Fogt (Conference Coordinator) and Leidheiser followed with a National Conference update. So far they said that they haven’t ran into any problems, and they wanted to make sure that if any member needed anything just to let them know. Also, they wanted to make sure that everyone knew that there was no extra microphone for the national business meeting and that there would be voting cards available for the business meeting. These voting cards are to make delegate votes easier to determine.

The first major item of business was the review of the national service project applications. Discussion started with how the constitution states how the service project is conducted. Currently it states that it is a three year process, where the first year is a planning year and the next two years is when the project is performed. There was some discussion if the constitution should be amended, so there wouldn’t be the one year of a development phase and for there to be just three years of conducting. The talk then moved on to how three years might not work, and maybe how the project should be just one year, or even it could be a ten year project. A ten year emphasis would be a way to have an ongoing project, almost like philanthropy. The Task Force report was brought up as a tool that could help aid in what should be done and could aid in this discussion; it’d be a way to see the overall focus of the Collegiate 4-H organization. The idea of an honor club from one of the visitors was brought up as well; a system to give a point value in a way, to clubs that complete projects and then there could be a way of recognition of clubs that complete the project. Another visitor added that the service project needs to be a part of the current system and curriculum. Also, that we need to make sure that we train members on how to do the projects. Val Krumm (NAB Secretary) then made an announcement about the national service project application due date. Krumm accidentally informed clubs that directed question to her the wrong due date of the applications by a of couple days later than the due date of February 17, 2006, so she asked for those clubs that sent applications in to her at a later date would still be accepted. Currently there are two applications. Voorhies then directed the conversation to a program that is set up in the Southern region currently, ideas in motion. This is where ideas are shared for projects to fund raising. The discussion kept on addressing on how there is a constant change in leadership, which sometimes makes it hard for items to be completed. Garrett added that a three year service project limits the ability of movement and for redirection towards current issues, such as disasters. Constant discussion on having a long term emphasis and short tem project kept on repeating during this item of business. Fogt then changed the discussion to how the constitution is continually changing. He added that maybe making a document for changes would be appropriate, that way the constitution wouldn’t keep on getting amended. These changes that are happening every year are operation issues. One guest made the note that the constitution needs to be a firm document and that bylaws would be appropriate. Garrett added that NAB is a representative democracy and that at times it seems that NAB has to do too much with votes and that people get caught up on procedural issues; in order to move forward this needs to stop. Then discussion then moved towards the transparency of NAB and that the visibility of NAB has improved over the past NAB term. Fogt brought up the ideas of bylaws and how this year’s NAB should make a foundation and start to changes. That there should be a group of people getting involved now in making a document that could determine current operational matters. Shane Sheridan (Western Region President) and Fogt will look into options along with any other members on what should be done now. They are planning on making an announcement on Thursday night of conference to invite the delegation to participate in the discussion. Near the end of the conversation for the night it was talked about deleting section b, c, and d of the constitution under the national service project. This would eliminate all of the exact details that NAB is currently working and discussing now. Leidheiser moved to table the discussion and Sheridan seconded; motion approved.

The next major item of business was the national business meeting. Bolte said that there should be reports from the Advocacy Team, the Web Team, and the Task Force, along with an update from Garrett. He also talked about the NAB status issue dealing with transferring to a different college within your region if you are the region president. It was brought up that the group of people talking about possible bylaws should add this to their discussion. Krumm announced that no amendments had been sent to her as of before the start of the meeting; there is an anticipated four to five amendments. A guest next brought up the voting delegate talking rules. They wanted to see if anyone can say anything during the meeting or if it’d be restricted to voting delegates only. This issue was then directed to the bylaw group. It was also discussed that the agenda and amendments needs to be made available prior to the meeting and that posting it on the Blog would be a good way of doing so. The agenda and amendments will also be available as a print copy. The procedure of discussion will start with five minutes of open discussion and then it will move onto a pro/con section of debate. Krumm will be in charge of keeping track of time. Then the discussion moved into how proxy works. Goebel finished the discussion by saying that he will need to talk at the meeting about highly recommending the completion of club establishment outlines, as well as, due paying clubs will have voting rights.

Next, Krumm brought up the idea of establishing a national listserv. She and Bolte discussed how names and emails of all due paying members could be put into a listserv and a database. This would be a way for members across the nation to receive information on applications, to getting updated about national conference, to being a helpful tool for the Advocacy Team in promoting information nationally. Also the database would be a way to determine an accurate number of Collegiate 4-H members across the nation. Sheridan brought up that club listservs could be used rather than individual emails. Discussion then flowed into what determines a due paying or active member. The discussion led to that this would be up to the individual club’s discretion. Several different ideas were then discussed on the listserv. Members wanted to make sure that the listserv was voluntarily and that there’d be a way to moderate messages. Fogt brought up that during registration on Thursday members could be asked if they’d like to join the listserv or not; it’d be a way to start on the process. Then discussion moved on how to get an accurate number of members. Suggestions ranged from asking clubs twice a year to once a year how many active members they had. Garrett gave a suggestion on making it during National 4-H Week and that there could be a campaign during that week for everyone to get their membership information in to the NAB secretary or maybe the web team.

Leidheiser moved to recess till 9AM (EST) on Thursday, February 23, 2006 and Sheridan seconded; motion passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:50PM (EST).

Respectfully Submitted,

Val Krumm
NAB Secretary